Here’s a rundown of everything that “happened” on this blog, just in case you were in a coma or unfrozen recently. 2007 was an interesting year, one that will go down in the history books as being one of the worst years of my life for personal reasons. Musically speaking, it fared only slightly better. But I’ll get to that in my next post.
Once again, another year’s worth of music put to bed. It’s so hard to sit there and think, “Well, does M.I.A. really sound like #1 material?” I don’t want to say it’s pointless and put down everyone’s hard work, but polls aren’t an acceptable form of consensus in the music critic industry, in my eyes at least. Consensus is what I remember from Ladyfest Philly meetings: endless meetings filled with debate until the group collectively reached a unanimous decision. A year-end poll is quantification with statistics, paling in comparison. (I am really, really excited to run data, if I can get any, through SPSS and see what comes up with it.)
When I am called upon to submit lists for polls, I treat them like mixtapes, with the ordinals acting as the sequence of songs, or artists. I throw all my tunes into a playlist and screw around with them until they sound interesting. I know, I know, my attitude is so, like, flippant.
Doing these shows for WPRB are always a blast because I get to take the whole listmaking thing into another level. I’ve been so down on this year, mainly because I was worried I wouldn’t have enough material to sustain a 3-hour program, but I was wrong. Quite a bit was left out, but many of my favorites from this year made it in.
Other notes: like clockwork, the playlist software died during my show. I think there’s something coded into it that says, “On 12/24 of every year, you will self-destruct.” No lie. The first set really depressed the hell out of me, so I made it super-pop on the second one. I’m back on tonight, 7-10 PM covering for Jon, and it’s going to be an all-vinyl rager.
Last but certainly not least, this show is DoubleSuperFun to do because the one following it is my favorite of the year.
The beast has been unleashed: Idolator’s Jackin’ Pop Critics Poll makes its maiden voyage. I’m thrilled to have been a part of it, though as you can tell by my ballot comments, perhaps sometimes I’m not so happy to be a part of _this_. Resolution for 2007? Bring Back The Love!
In addition to Idolator’s parsing of the poll, Glenn McDonald brought forth the statistical beast from within and has given us two fantastic analyses: the first is a ranking of whose ballot was most in alignment with the winners (I’m pretty much in the middle there, not surprisingly), the second is a breakdown of album clusters. The second is more fascinating to me, largely because it reads like one of those “Recommended If You Like” stickers (sometimes), but also manages to highlight some pretty obvious patterns in lists. There’s neat little breakdowns, like if someone picked Cat Power’s _The Greatest_, there was an approximately 25% chance they’d pick a record by TV On The Radio, Neko Case, The Hold Steady and J Dilla. Of course, that’s an easy stat. I think. Here’s some interesting observations from Glenn:
• The closest anybody comes to losing their own poll is DJ Drama and Lil Wayne. Of the 24 voters who voted for Dedication 2, 21 of them also voted for Clipse’s Hell Hath No Fury. In no other case is this ratio much lower than 2:1.
• The only artists whose subset polls don’t have Ghostface Killah in the top 10 are Band of Horses, Midlake, the Dixie Chicks and Bruce Springsteen.
• In the top 10 according to the 29 people who voted for Mastodon, Converge comes in tied for 7th. Converge only got 8 votes total, but 6 of those people also voted for Mastodon. Converge shares 7th with Clipse, who got 99 votes total, but only 6 from Mastodon voters. There are only three or four other albums with fewer than 10 total votes that would make the top 10 according to the voters for any album with 20+ votes, and those are all from smaller samples (3 or 4 votes).
• The Dixie Chicks, despite receiving only 26 votes total, came in 3rd among Springsteen voters, 7th among Bob Dylan voters, and 9th among Jenny Lewis voters.
• DJ Drama and Lil Wayne, despite receiving only 24 votes total, came in 4th among Scritti Politti voters, 5th among Justin Timberlake and TI and Clipse voters, 7th among My Chemical Romance voters, and 8th among J Dilla voters.
• The biggest jump into 2nd place is Grizzly Bear, who come in 2nd among Midlake voters. Midlake, however, doesn’t even make the top 10 according to Grizzly Bear voters. Presumably this means war.
Also, the Delta 5 reissue made it to number 16 on that poll. How cool!
Actually, I made them give me lists. No, wait. That’s not right. I emailed them for lists. These are the four that were kind enough to respond. Of course the others might be slaving over theirs as I write this, so stay tuned for additions. Otherwise, this is the awesome finale to my 2006 List-A-Mania — it’s a good thing this only happens once a year!
talking about punching MFs in the testicles.
and also:
FERGIELICIOUS.
that. is. all.
Miss Meow is one of the brains behind the Girls’ DJ Collective and hands-down, the best-dressed tennis partner I’ve ever had.
Homostupids
Lamps
Times New Viking
Sharkey plays in Clockcleaner and knows more about comedy albums than I ever will.
15 live experiences that made me glad to be alive in 2006, in no
particular order.
1. Cause Co-Motion
Glasslands / Brooklyn, NY / October 2006
2. Band of Horses
Red Eyed Fly / Austin, TX / March 2006
3. Comets on Fire
Knitting Factory / New York, NY / March 2006
4. Rocky Votolato
Southpaw / Brooklyn, NY / January 2006
5. Oxford Collapse
Glasslands / Brooklyn, NY / October 2006
6. Reykjavik!
Cafe Amsterdam / Reykjavik, Iceland / September 2006
7. Still Flyin’
Debaser / Stockholm, Sweden / August 2006
8. P.O.S.
Knitting Factory / New York, NY / February 2006
9. Maritime
Lava Lounge Patio / Austin, TX / March 2006
10. The Hold Steady
Warsaw / Brooklyn, NY / November 2006
11. Pink Mountaintops
Knitting Factory / New York, NY / June 2006
12. Richard Swift
Emo’s / Austin, TX / March 2006
13. The Brunettes
Red Eyed Fly / Austin, TX / March 2006
14. Oneida
Syrup Room / Brooklyn, NY / June 2006
15. Dälek
Avalon / New York, NY / May 2006
In some cases, it’s the feeling of unabashed joy that the artist in question summons up: at least two of the sets here ended with legions of friends and well-wishers coming onto the stage and dancing. In other cases, it’s a reminder of why I enjoy live music to begin with: Reykjavik! and P.O.S. both brought back the same feelings I had at my first hardcore shows, in very different ways. In still others — I’m looking at you, Oneida and Comets on Fire — it was raw force. I tend to come at music from an emotional perspective rather than a technical or historic one; at the root of it all is a simple question: does the music move me? That the key emotion for most of these shows was jubilation leaves me feeling better than usual about the year that was.
Tobias Carroll lives in Brooklyn, writes about music, and helps operate the East River Music Project.
The Top 10 Short Stores I Read in 2006 (in no particular order)
“Passion” by Alice Munro
I keep thinking I’m going to get tired of Alice Munro, but I never do. No one else I know writes a better conventional short story than she does, if you can call her carefully and intricately structured stories conventional. She’s got the best sense of timing out of all the contemporary writers I know, and the ending of this story is pretty much stunning.
“Testimony of Pilot” by Barry Hannah
I picked up the hard to find collection “Airships” at the main branch of the Library this fall. It’s from the late seventies, and nobody seems to write in this weird, pseudo-eloquent “southern” style anymore, but it’s a voice that Hannah totally nails. This story is totally balls-out bizarre, but it manages somehow to tell the story of America, 1950-1975, all in the space of twenty-odd pages.
“New York Mining Disaster”/”Nausea 1978″ by Haruki Murakami
I first became familiar with Murakami’s work via his novels, but I think he’s actually a much better short story writer than a novelist. Both these stories are excellent examples of his ability to establish creepy moods through a succession of seemingly mundane details, all circling around the issue of death, a preferred theme for Murakami’s short stories.
“Puffed Rice and Meatballs” by Lara Vapnyar
From this year’s O’Henry stories. Highly reccomended. Vapnyar isn’t flashy, but this story is really good with the psychology of its characters.
“A Brief History of the Dead”/”The Ceiling” by Kevin Brockmeier
Brockmeier is a really spotty writer; these are the only two stories of his I’ve really liked, but they’re both crackerjack. Brockmeier specializes in conceits, but he manages, in both of these stories, to make real tragedy out of them.
“The High Divide” by Charles D’Ambrosio
People don’t give D’Ambrosio enough credit. He’s truly awesome, and this story has some of the best one-liners and dialogue I’ve read in a long time. After I read this story I kept quoting some of them aloud to people, many of whom I barely knew or had just met. I’m sure it was annoying as hell.
“Fantasy for Eleven Fingers” by Ben Fountain
This story inspired to half-write what ended up being a really shitty novel. An excellent example of quasi-historical short fiction, or what I like to call the “fake biography” school of short stories.
“The Pugilist at Rest” by Thom Jones
A not-so-brief snapshot from the strange world of Thom Jones. I tried to teach this in my writing class, but the kids didn’t know what to make of it. I guess I don’t really either, but it’s amazing anyway.
“The Card Trick” by Tessa Hadley
This is as good an example of any of the contemporary short story; it’s personal, tightly constructed, and fairly sad. I actually got really emotional when I finished this story. I was in a coffeeshop and kind of thought I was gonna get all teary and shit. Thankfully I held it back. Fuck that girly emotional crap!
“The Sorge Spy Ring” by Aleksander Hemon
Oh, footnotes. You’re kind of stupid a lot of the time, but occasionally someone comes along who makes you seem viable. I think this story is responsible for all those Nabokov comparisons Hemon always gets, which are unfair to both him and Nabokov.
Sam Allingham is an Assistant Program Coordinator at the Kelly Writers House. We had a very long, drawn out argument about Chris Ott’s totally crappy Decemberists concert review last semester.
2006 was the year where the number of venues in the city exploded — Danger! Danger! led the pack of West Philly house shows, Johnny Brenda’s finally came to life, Pilam rose like a phoenix from the ashes, LAVA space sprang into action and Philafunk became uh, whatever the hell it is. We also lost some spaces as well: Pontiac Grille, Club 218, Silk City, Abilene — and those are just off the top of my head. Stacie George left Heyday to pursue a career booking crazyhugeginormous spaces with Live Nation, Joe Lekkas jumped in with style and grace. Personally speaking, I decided to end Plain Parade after a very rewarding four years.
Thankfully this city has an army of rock bands miles deep to keep every single one of them steadily booked. Question is, how’s it holding up on the audience end? Not so well, it seems. 2006 was the hardest year for Plain Parade — and we’re nothing like R5. We busted our ass to promote shows, probably harder than in years past, but the numbers rarely matched up.
So: what gives, Philadelphia? Downloading has made it possible for everyone to own every record in the world but doesn’t take you off the hook. Even though its really fun to play, _Guitar Hero_ doesn’t qualify, uh, _for anything_. (However, if anyone would like to join my all-female GH gang, “Guitar She-ro” [Name credit: Cathy S], drop me a line.)
Anyway, I digress. There is at least one decent rock club/space in each hipster-approved neighborhood — the neighborhoods you already live in! These places and promoters can’t sustain themselves — they need your help to remain a reality! While I’m on it: stop being gigantic pussies who only bother to see your friends bands or whatever’s hyped by Pitchfork. The level of quality booking in this town can’t be beat, so take a chance, OK? Think of how happy you’ll make some band feel when they’re playing to an audience. And if the show really sucks, at least you’ll have a good story to share.
Whew. I didn’t think I was going to rant that much.
(In Top Serious Numerical Order)
02. Clockcleaner, _Nevermind_ (Reptilian)
03. Plastic Little, _She’s Mature_ (ToneArm)
04. Bardo Pond, _Ticket Crystals_ (ATP)
05. Pony Pants, _’Til Death Do Us Party_ (Badmaster)
06. Cynthia G Mason, _Quitter’s Claim_ (High Two)
07. Man Man, _Six Demon Bag_ (Ace Fu)
08. Mahogany, _connectivity!_ (Darla)
09. Dragon City, _Self-Titled_ (Self Released)
10. Relay, _Still Point Of Turning_ (Bubblecore)
11. Snowfairies, _Voila!_ (Self Released)
Honorable Mentions: Home Blitz, Trolleyvox, Adam Arcuragi, The Bottom Lip, B Mulvey, Yah Mos Def, Mountain High, A Sunny Day In Glasgow, Notekillers, King Kong Ding Dong, RunRunner, Icy Demons, Patternismovement, Windsor For The Derby.
Brown Recluse Sings
Quite possibly the loudest indiepop band I’ve ever booked, and certainly one of the most fun. There’s a lot of bands on the pop side of things in this here town, but they’re the only ones who seem to travel into Tropicalia territory.
A-Sides
They leaked a song (”Cinematic”) off their forthcoming record that was moody and gorgeous — and it was probably the weakest track on the record, given how amazing their debut full-length was. A touch of inside baseball: they’ve apparently signed with Vagrant Records — world domination isn’t too far off. [via - see adam farrell's remarks]
Meg Baird
Solo album from this Espers member coming out this year on a pretty huge label. Prepare to be floored.
Clockcleaner
Pretty much the band to beat in this town right now. No one else really brings the rock the way these kids do. Look for their next album on a _very_ big-deal label. Believe all the hype and messageboard in-jokes — it’s real.
Plastic Little
Pitchfork predicts their next album to be “Spinal Rap“. Did you hear that? _Spinal Rap_. They’re already calling it a classic.
American Sneakers / Steven Ward James
SWJ’s hypnotic folk leanings meet Jayson Musson of the aforementioned Plastic Little’s dirrrty-but-hilarious lyrics and merge into a quite successful hybrid of folksy, glitchy hip-pop. Steven’s solo output, on the other hand, is lush and gorgeous, with touches of Jim O’Rourke style avant rock. To both, I say: get your shit together and release a record.
The Bottom Lip
A group of kids from Philadelphia Univ. and Drexel, they released the garage poptastic _White Dot Warlord_ earlier in ‘06. A fantastic record indeed, but totally out of sync with the band’s style by the time they played a PP gig this summer. Confrontational, a touch bluesy and no-wavey, they might be totally onto something.
Pony Pants
With a Pitchfork nod, a gig playing Making Time’s New Years Eve party and much _City Paper_ love — this would qualify as the zenith for success in Philly. Truth of the matter is it’s just the tip of the iceberg for these kids. Haters are just hating.
Gang
A touch electroclashy and a touch noisy, these ladies are clearly following in the very-large footprints of one Miss Emily Pony Pants. All the rumblings I heard about them in ‘06 are going to get louder.
Yah Mos Def
Their full-length album comes out this year. It’s about fucking time.
Barking Spiders
Probably the worst-named band in the city amongst the indie rock set, yet I’m willing to let them slide each time the guitars shred. In This Radiant Boy (RIP), Mike Guggino’s lyrics were so obtuse, five bucks says he wrote them with magnetic poetry. In Barking Spiders, he manages to strike a perfect balance between ridiculous symbolism and razor-sharp clarity — just check “Snakeskin Moustache” for proof.
Gnarls Barkley, “Crazy”
Nelly Furtado, “Crazy”
Ubiquitous, yes, whatevs, but it still ruled.
Pink, “Stupid Girls”
Truth be told, I have some conflicting feelings about this song, or more specifically, the video. It’s one thing to tell girls to stop acting like bronzed bimbos, something totally else when it starts turning into borderline girl-on-girl hate. But then Pink’s acceptance speech and on-stage clowning of Nicole Ritchie at the MTV VMA’s won me back again.
Rhianna, “S.O.S.”
One of my favorite singles ever getting sampled for a slinky R&B jam? Sign me up.
Nelly Furtado, “Maneater”
Oh Nelly, your new record blew but this song ruled. And it’s hard to not love a song that pays homage to Philly homeboys Hall & Oates.
Lily Allen, “Smile”
Perhaps this is a lesson we should all learn about dealing with former lovers: a smile and a little bit of grace goes a long way, even when you really, really want to rip them to shreds.
The Rapture, “The Devil”
An effortless dancepunk tune, a tough act to follow after Echoes (which essentially defined the dancepunk genre), and for no particular reason at all makes me think of Donna Summer.
CSS, “Alala”
Bratmobile’s “Cool Schmool” gone electro; the only thing Microsoft got right was pre-loading this onto the Zune.
The Gossip, “Standing In The Way Of Control”
Bold, defiant, uncompromising. Maybe the music supervisors at _Grey’s Anatomy_ included it to inspire the show’s characters to grow a spine?
“Weird” Al Yankovic, “White & Nerdy”
Let’s be honest here — 2006 was really The Year of Weird Al. From the Chamillionaire parody to his troupe of Segway “dancers”, the last time I actually cared about this guy was in the era of “Like A Surgeon”.
Cat Power, “Lived In Bars”
The hardest part about this song is knowing that while everyone was finding new ways to come up with yet-another Chan Marshall stage fright joke, she was battling an addiction and none of us picked up on it, even when she threw this song down. I guess that indie rock for you these days — stand around and laugh at the people who suffer, rather than actually do anything to help.
Frida Hyvonen, “The Modern”
I’m not even remotely sold on the “sexually forthright” aspect of this — blah, whatever — it’s those twangy Hawaiian guitars in the outro that really do it for me. An unexpected, but wholly pleasant surprise.
The Blow, “Parentheses”
The last insanely genius song The Blow wrote was “Hey Boy”. This is the other. I am guessing this is what would happen if the Brill Building shared their iTunes and then cut and pasted everything together in Garageband — provided there was some loophole in the space-time continuum, natch.
Hot Chip, “Boy From School”
With a chorus “We try, but we don’t have long / We try, but we don’t belong”, this might as well become the anthem for every alienated person out there.
Lily Allen, “LDN”
Everything she’s talking about sounds like crazy ol’ Philadelphia.
Finally Punk, “Missle”
Whenever anyone compares weapons of mass destruction to a crappy housemate, it is 100% worth merit.
Cause Co-Motion, “Which Way Is Up?”
What would happen if you threw the Modern Lovers down 18 flights of stairs and recorded it?
Holy Hail, “Dig My Grave With The Songs I’ve Sung”
No offense to Matt, but Fluxblog sort of unecessarily dissed this track over the summer and hey, guess what — it’s a perfectly fine pop song that bounces and swings with just a fine dusting of gospel swagger. The way in which the ladies squeak “hold ‘em up / shoot ‘em down” is a thrilling flaw.
The Rosebuds, “In The Backyard”
After a few records of bright and shiny pop, this track came as a total surprise in its dreamy late-80’s teen-movie soundtrack glory. Perhaps it is the ghost of the Rosebuds future?
Henri Faberge & the Adorables, “Out Of Your League”
Because it made me think of Grease 2’s “Reproduction”, of course.
Petra Haden, “Thriller”
For all I know this might be old, but it was so mindbendingly great and faithful to the original that it doesn’t really matter.
The Trolleyvox, “Just You Wait”
Most power-pop songs are sappy love songs, and this is not. Every moment of this song, which snaps by like a camera shutter, is righteously angry at the world — but it’s also anxiously awaiting the better days ahead.
(Off The Top Of My Head)
Clockcleaner, Notekillers, KeN @ Tritone (Eff you, I am _so_ allowed to pick my own shows)
Dragon City, Black Taj, Artanker Convoy @ M-Room
Love Of Diagrams, Superchunk, The Bats @ SXSW (Austin, TX)
Finally Punk @ Danger! Danger! House
Flaming Lips @ Penn’s Landing
This Radiant Boy @ The Khyber
Sleater-Kinney @ Starlight Ballroom
Sonic Youth @ Starlight Ballroom
The Gossip, Erase Errata, Mika Miko, UV Protection @ FUC
Ex Models @ Surreal Sound Studios
Richard Buckner & Doug Gillard @ World Cafe Live
Portastatic, Jennifer O’Connor @ North Star Bar
Tokyo Police Club @ The Khyber
Hot Chip, The Rapture, Lo-Fi Fnk @ Pure
Sufjan Stevens @ Tower Theater
Hold Steady, Constantines @ North Star Bar
We Are Scientists, Oxford Collapse, The Grates @ FUC
Parts & Labor @ Johnny Brenda’s
Touch & Go 20th Anniversary (Chicago, IL)
Times New Viking @ Skylab (Columbus, OH)
Belong @ The Khyber
Tapes’N'Tapes @ FUC
Boredoms @ Starlight Ballroom
Built To Spill @ Trocadero
Sereena Maneesh @ SXSW
Even though most ladies I know these days seem to be more concerned with having Etsy on constant refresh than making music, 2006 wound up being the year where women ruled the roost. Lord knows I have never considered myself much of a feminist, but whether it was a strictly all-female or coed effort, some of the most amazing things I heard this year had a women’s touch in the creative process. Color me psyched.
I had the opportunity to vote in a couple different polls this year, so I wound up with a lot of different lists. There’s definite similarities but for this one, I chose to focus on records that were near and dear to my heart.
Sonic Youth, _Rather Ripped_ (Geffen)
It would have been so easy for the band to scrap all their work post-Murray Street and dive headfirst into more noisier, outré territories (especially since they’re far more “hip”) but easy has never really been on the Sonic Youth agenda in the first place. Instead, they plowed ahead to create _Rather Ripped_, a rather beautiful distillation of pop-meets-noise. Overwhelmingly straightforward in some ways, a good puzzle in others, I kept returning to it throughout the year without hestitation.
The Evens, _Get Evens_ (Dischord)
It’s the economy, stupid, and how this duo manages to work with it. While the lyrical nature of _Get Evens_ is rife with politics, the production is sparse, foggy at times and purely intimate — it’s like they’re telegraphing the thoughts of every dissatisfied American. Or at least they’re channeling the thoughts I have when I turn on NPR, watch the evening news and so on. Who can’t get behind a line like “let the door hit you on the ass”, especially when it’s pointed directly at George Bush? Politics aside, it’s the interchanges between Amy Farina and Ian Mackaye that really propel this album to my personal Top 3. In one moment Ian gruffly rumbles, in the next there’s the almost inaudible banter of “I know… just wanted to make the offer” in “You Fell Down”.
My favorite moments on this album are courtesy of Amy, though. As the whole indie rock thing progresses, certain vocal timbres have fallen to the wayside. It seems like people tend to prefer these rather restrained and stereotypically pretty/”girl” vocals when it comes to the whole issue of women singing, and Amy’s voice doesn’t play that game. It’s loud, clear, strong and isn’t ashamed of that fact, instantly setting it apart from the pack. It’s her voice that pushes “No Money” over the edge — halfway through the song changes into this throbbing, pulsating beat, her voice cuts through the fuzz like a golden road. And all she’s singing about is not getting paid for work.
Joanna Newsom, _Ys_ (Drag City)
I was hesitant to embrace a lot of “New Weird America” bands. Women were usually painted as defenseless elf-maidens who hopelessly pined for their knights in shining armor; for someone who grew up during the decade of riot grrrl, it was a very tough pill to swallow. And when Joanna Newsom came into the picture, oh boy — easy target for which I had a proverbial field day with. So of course, it should come as a complete, unexpected surprise that _Ys_ was one of my favorite records of the year. Had she decided to make another record that was similar to the more conventional-sounding _Milk-Eyed Mender_… I applaud her desire to chuck the system, employ some of the brightest minds in the business to make a record that’s more a heady combination of poetry and sound and challenge every listener along the way. This fair maiden has a spine.
The Long Blondes, _Someone To Drive You Home_ (Rough Trade)
You heard it here: this was the most snoozed upon record of 2006, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why — it’s brilliant. Frontwoman Kate Jackson’s bold voice seeks out the dark corners of relationships between women — the friendship, the competition, the way guys can totally fuck up those tenous connections — in a way that’s pretty much been untouched for nearly a decade. It’s a jagged intersection of girl-group and new wave, everything the Pipettes should have been… if only they hadn’t left the actual music-making aspect to a pack of dudes.
Erase Errata, _Nightlife_ (Kill Rock Stars)
Girl punk in the United States circa 2006 doesn’t get much more abrasive than this. _Nightlife_ might be the only record on this list that gives me a migraine and I think this is one of the good points about it. “Tax Dollar” should become a protest anthem.
Lily Allen, _Alright Still_ (EMI)
A young, smart, outspoken woman who manages to absorb/reconstruct a bunch of different musical sounds for one amazing pop creation — how can I not love this? And while I think it’s totally awesome that she called bullshit on the NME, Paris, etc, I get all mom-like and hope that she knows how to stay focused and make another record just as good as this one. You know what I hate though? They licensed “Take What You Take” for Aerie Tuesdays on the CW. As if slogging through the shit-pile that is the final season of Gilmore Girls wasn’t bad enough, this is the soundtrack to a koffee klatch of harpy sorostitutes during commercial breaks.
Jennifer O’Connor, _Over the Mountain, Across the Valley and Back to the Stars_ (Matador)
A sad, cathartic record about loss cleverly disguised as a straightforward rock album, that mirrored my experience of losing loved ones in 2006. Misery loves company; this was pretty much a constant houseguest that never once outstayed its welcome.
Portastatic, _Be Still Please_ (Merge)
Back when Mac fronted Superchunk, songs like “Slack Motherfucker” were anthems for a different time — a time in which we were younger, less-employed and the world wasn’t going to shit around us. In Portastatic, Mac MacCaughan’s found a way to channel those frustrations, into an album’s worth smartly executed rock.
Finn’s Motel, The Victoria Lucas, Henri Faberge & the Adorables, Comets On Fire, Flin Flon, Oneida, Eleventh Dream Day, Howe Gelb, Destroyer, The Husbands, CSS, Excepter, Dixie Chicks, Clipse, Matmos, Bishop Allen, The Thermals
Delta 5, Singles & Sessions 1979-1980 (Kill Rock Stars)
Designed the packaging. What an honor!
Oxford Collapse, Remember The Night Parties (Sub Pop)
I wrote the one sheet/bio for this.
I know I keep putting this blog off and off and off — I’m just feeling a bit burnt out from it all. End-of-year exhaustion and laid up in bed for the last week with bronchitis will do that to you. But in the meantime, some linkage for you:
» Baby’s First Critic’s Poll: Even after all the hours I spent researching records that came out in 2006, I still managed to miss a few that I liked (Jennifer O’Connor, Uzeda for starters). Oh well. I am still pleased with my list — interesting to note that there are many records made by women (only 2-3 are strictly dude rock) and weigh in on political themes (5-6). And while I still lament the lack of women in rock, it was a year where quality, not quantity, ruled the roost. Anyway, I contributed writing to the #5 pick.
» Phillyist has an excellent feature on Megan & Mason Wendell of Canary Promo. Those folks do hard work and don’t get much recognition for it, so kudos to them.
» Did you have a good Christmas/Hanukkah? While mine was enjoyable, all this non-wintry weather made it feel most un-holidaylike. Maybe this is the source of my blahs.
My last radio show of the year! Of course I’m going to do a “Best Of” show. Last year I did one as well, but went in order. This year, I just threw my favorites together. I had lots of fun, despite being sick. (I was so sick I hadn’t left bed in 48 hours, save for a trip to the doctor.)
It was also nice to be there at the start of Jon’s 24-Hour Holiday Marathon, though I am bummed I wasn’t able to attempt my live, on-air karaoke version of “Jingle Bell Rock”. There’s always next year, I suppose.
the long blondes - giddy stratospheres - someone to drive you home
delta 5 - journey - singles 1979-1981 - C
eleventh dream day - insincere inspiration - zeroes and ones
cat power - lived in bars - the greatest
espers - widows weed - II
les folkloristas - vals y corridita - mexico 2
Jennifer O’Connor - sister - s/t
technically released a couple years ago, though the song appears on her brand new 2006 album. just couldn’t find the record!
portastatic - sour shores - be still please - Noneida - the adversary - happy new year
the gossip - standing in the way of control - standing in the way of control
clockcleaner - by the door - 7″ - N
chavez - unreal is here - better days will haunt you - N
cynthia g mason - fits & starts - quitters claim - N
the evens - no money - get evens
matmos - solo buttons for joe meek - the rose has teeth in the mouth of a beastscott solter/patternismovement - in tape grass - …plays patternismovement - N
the rapture - get myself into it - pieces of the people we love - N
them two - am i a good man - eccentric soul: the deep city label - C
sonic youth - jams run free - rather ripped
cause co-motion - falling again - 7″ - N
parts & labor - springtime hibernation - stay afraiddestroyer - painter in your pocket - destroyer’s rubies
nina nastasia - brad haunts a party - on leaving. - N
john cale - andalucia - paris 1919
joanna newsom - cosmia - ys - Ndragon city - track 2 - s/t - N R
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While I finish up the last bits of my year end lists for you, here’s a present. I really loved doing this show even though I was totally plagued with bronchitis (and still am). Hope you do too.
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